More magma accumulation than before the last eruption
22 earthquakes have been measured at the magma tunnel since midnight. mbl.is/Árni Sæberg
According to the Icelandic Met Office’s deformation measurement director, Benedikt Gunnar Ófeigsson, it will be a surprise if something does not happen in the Reykjanes peninsula this week.
The magma flow has been relatively calm since a small magma eruption occurred on March 2. Magma levels under Svartsengi have continued to rise steadily, and have now risen more than before the magma eruption at the beginning of the month. The last eruption occurred on February 8, the sixth in a row in nearly three years.
“There is some reluctance in this, but we see clear signs that the inflation is increasing and it is not slowing down at all,” says Ófeigsson to mbl.is.
He says it’s hard to imagine anything but that something’s going to happen in no time while this scenario continues.
All kinds of things that can delay
“The inflation doesn’t continue indefinitely without something happening compared to what’s been going on before. Of course, the system will change and there are all kinds of things that can delay things, but I have to say that I would be surprised if something didn’t happen this week,” he says.
If the volcanic eruption continues and nothing happens, something has changed in the last magma run. He says that the situation is closely monitored and mentions that a volcanic eruption can start very shortly, even in less than half an hour.
22 earthquakes at the magma tunnel since midnight
According to Salóme Jórunn Bernharðsdóttir, a natural-hazard expert at the Icelandic Met Office, the seismic activity has been stronger in the past two days than in days before. However, more earthquakes are possibly detected now due to weather conditions.
Since midnight, 22 earthquakes have been detected at the magma tunnel, most of them on the south side of the tunnel.
Not the seismic activity to be expected before an eruption
“This is not a seismic activity that we expect to see in the wake of a volcanic eruption. That seismic activity would be more concentrated around Sýlingarfell. This is just seismic activity due to cooling magma channels in this area and we have not seen any signs that this is starting,” Bernharðsdóttir tells us.
She says that magma accumulation and inflation continue to increase at a steady pace. Yesterday, 10 million cubic meters of magma accumulated in the magma chamber, which is more than before the volcanic eruption on February 8.
